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<title>An Inconvenient Conscience by TheAmazingOntos</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292661">An Inconvenient Conscience</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAmazingOntos/pseuds/TheAmazingOntos'>TheAmazingOntos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Change [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>No Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Magic Revealed, Mild Language, POV First Person</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:16:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAmazingOntos/pseuds/TheAmazingOntos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I use avoidance behavior because I have a guilty conscience</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Change [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960861</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Inconvenient Conscience</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hey, snap out of it. We need to find the nearest terramancer who can get this fool out of this rock. Go on around to Admin and see who's there," Emily says. </p>
<p>When that doesn't work, she shoves me bodily through the door towards the offices, despite her being only five and a half feet tall and even skinnier than I remember. She takes control of the scene in the lobby without any problems from the others.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I'm headed towards the offices, while everyone from the offices are headed to the lobby. It's kind of hard to miss the screams and the smouldering remains on the floor. </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>A few hours later, and you couldn't even tell that a duel between mages happened there. The damage was repaired, with the terramancer being exceptionally skilled with all kinds of delicate work. The most impressive part to me was when she made the window pull itself back together before it was refired by the pyromancers on site. </p>
<p>While this was going on, I was kept isolated, so that I could be questioned about the incident. Which they did, over and over again. I told my version of what happened at least a dozen times before they cut me loose. By the time we were through, it was evening and lunch would become dinner.</p>
<p>I walk into the kitchen, with Shivani following me, trying to get me to talk about what happened during the fight. I don't want to talk about it, nor do I appreciate having an interloper in my kitchen(I'm in there, it's mine, deal with it or piss off).</p>
<p>"Vergil, please, tell me why you're being a whiny little bitch. I can feel the emotion rolling off of you like heat from a fire, and fire caused a spike. You don't like fire? Okay, fire doesn't bother you," she says, while watching me closely. </p>
<p>"Is it because you're hungry? No, thirsty? No, horny, I'm right here, by the way, but no, you still don't want to have sex with me. I can keep going, but if you don't tell me, it'll take forever and I want to get some sleep. Having to suppress emotions during a fight is a strain, especially with pyromancers around. Anyway, talk to me or don't, I'm leaving in the next five minutes to have a bath and get some sleep. Your choice," she finishes. </p>
<p>While she's been talking, I've been trying to figure out how to talk about the fact we killed some people, and nobody seems fussed. I'm of the generation where men would rather die than talk about what bothers them, so it's understandably difficult. So I keep working around her until she leaves in a huff, muttering about talking to walls and stupid, stubborn jackasses. </p>
<p>When I'm done, the cafeteria is almost completely abandoned, mainly because everyone could see Shivani get mad at me, and she's a favourite of everyone around the ministry. The only people left are Austin, Emily and Alyssa, and by the look on their faces, what's coming up won't be pleasant. </p>
<p>I try to walk past them to a table, but they just fall in step and sit down next to me. As I open my mouth to tell them to fuck off, Emily beats me to the punch. </p>
<p>"You and Shivani, wow. She's good for you, but you'll need to be open and honest with her. You always keep hiding from the girls you like. Annie, Wendy, Reshma and even Michelle, not one of them you let get close to you. That said, you're going to get up now, stop being a baby, and go talk to her" Emily says in a low, steady tone, which I know from experience means she's ready to hit me for being a jackass. </p>
<p>"Fine," I mumble and go try to find Shivani. Emily would have kicked my ass up between my ears before, and as much as it galls me to just do as I'm told, I go because I like living. Everyone's seemingly relaxed about the killing of troublesome people, and I don't want to become one of those dead, troublesome people. </p>
<p>I almost immediately luck out, finding her in the garden outside of the cafeteria. She's sitting on a bench, looking at the fountain there, but she's not really seeing it. There's a vacant quality about her that says she's a million miles away, and I go sit next to her until she gets back. The sound of the fountain is comforting, just some meaningless background noise, and I end up falling asleep to it.</p>
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